Hiro Hamada
Hiro Hamada is the main protagonist of Disney's 2014 animated feature film, ''Big Hero 6'' and in it's sequel television series, ''Big Hero 6: The Series''. He is a fourteen year old robotics prodigy living in San Fransokyo under the care of his aunt, Cass and older brother, Tadashi. After Tadashi's sudden death at the hands of a kabuki-masked villain, Hiro—with support from his healthcare companion, Baymax—became the founder and leader of Big Hero 6, a group of superheroes bent on protecting the city. Hiro Hamada is based on the character of the same name from the original comic book series, Big Hero 6 published by Zenescope Comics. Background Official Description : Robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada has the mind of a genius—and the heart of a 14-year old: his state-of-the-art battle-bots dominate the underground bot fights held in the dark corners of San Fransokyo. Fortunately, his big brother Tadashi redirects Hiro's brilliance, inspiring him to put his brain to the test in a quest to gain admission to the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. When a tragic event changes everything, Hiro turns to a robot named Baymax, and they form an unbreakable bond—and two-sixths of a band of high-tech heroes on a very important mission. Personality Hiro Hamada is a young boy with intelligence far beyond his years. For example, he graduated from high school when he was 13. Because of this, he can be rather brazen and cocky (especially when he was seen to be bored during his bot fight with Yama), but never to the point of being annoying and insufferable. He spent much of his time using his technology to win money through illegal bot fight bets (he states that bot-fighting isn't illegal, but betting on it is, though he still did bet on bot-fighting illegally), something he prided himself on, though his older brother Tadashi heavily disapproved. While Tadashi felt that his brother had a greater purpose and should attend college, Hiro believed that he held the knowledge of all that there is to know in the world, or at least all that any school can teach him, showing a strong sense of pride, as well as possible past experiences of school being redundant, unchallenging, and boring for him. Despite his bold nature, Hiro has a much softer side to him, as he's shown to sometimes be rather shy in front of crowds and during the process of making new friends, as well as socially awkward at times. Even so, he is very compassionate, which, in the beginning, is mostly seen when dealing with his older brother, Tadashi who despite his brotherly nagging, holds a special place in Hiro's heart as the latter's best friend and inspiration. When with Tadashi, Hiro's true colors emerge, showing him to be free-spirited, innocently sassy, warm and ultimately very loving and appreciative. Such aspects wouldn't be seen again until the void left by Tadashi's demise is eventually filled by the lovable Baymax, who cares for Hiro in the same sense, forming a strong companionship. However, while Hiro has a kind heart, he is a very complex character, and is far from perfect, engaging in some darker behaviors when highly provoked. At certain points during the movie, the boy genius allowed his anger to cloud his better judgment and commit acts normally out of the question. He is similar to Yokai (the villainous mastermind responsible for the death of Tadashi) in this respect, as both experienced the loss of a loved one, thus mutilating their hearts to the point where they sought revenge against the wrongdoers responsible, going as far as conscious murder, rather than bring Yokai to justice. However, what separates the two and ultimately classifies Hiro as a hero and Yokai as a villain is the fact that, unlike Yokai, Hiro not only learns the error of his ways, but he makes a serious effort to right the wrongs he caused as quickly as possible. Such revelations are mostly due to the comforting nature of Baymax, the legacy of Tadashi and the support of his closest friends, resulting in a newly-reformed young prodigy who values the lives of all human beings and refuses to carry out acts of justice through the use of violence and murder. As time would move on following the events of Tadashi's death, Hiro would slowly shape into a heroic, wise and inspirational leader, following in his brother's footsteps. Such traits passed down include Tadashi's philosophy of "looking for a new angle", as well as the devotion to doing whatever is necessary to help others and make the world a better place for all, especially the innocent and deserving. As mentioned above, Hiro would notably organize the Big Hero 6 team, vowing to protect the city of San Fransokyo in order to fulfill Tadashi's lifelong dream of helping others. Physical Appearance Hiro is a young adolescent boy of native Japanese and American decent. He is 14- year old. According to official sources, he is 1.52 m in height and rather slender. He can often be found in a blue hoodie jacket, a red shirt with a humanoid robot on it, long dark beige capri shorts, and dark brown trainers with yellow laces. He has fair skin, brown eyes, and messy black hair. His eyelashes and eyebrows are somewhat thick, and his eyes are a rounded almond shape. When he smiles or opens his mouth, a gap in his teeth can be noticed along with a slight overbite. Hiro's super-suit is made of primarily purple with red accents and black armor, with black clothing underneath that covers most of his body up to his knees, and steel-toe black sneakers. On his suit are red magnetic pads, used to carry onto Baymax's armor for transportation and battle purposes. Hiro's super-suit received a few alterations in the TV series. His sneakers have been replaced with black steel-toe combat boots, the pockets on his belt are obsolete, and his visor is transparent orange. Powers and Abilities * Genius-level intellect: Hiro's true potential lies within his genius. He is highly innovative, and has the power to create inventions from inspiration; from small but powerful battle-bots to state-of-the-art super suits. He also has intimate knowledge of his inventions and can coordinate on a complex level of thought. Hiro's intelligence is so high that he was even able to recreate items with impeccable detail, such as Baymax. * Martial Arts Skills: In a picture of Hiro and Tadashi as children, it appears that Hiro learned martial arts at a young age, though he is never shown using it in battle. Although he does seem to recognize its codes and rules as shown when training with Baymax. * Magnetism: When wearing his suit, the magnetic pads on Hiro generate magnetic waves to help him cling to metallic surfaces. Although this is used primarily to hold onto Baymax whenever the robot takes flight, Hiro can use it for offensive purposes, such as attracting or deflecting metallic objects. Equipment While his suit does not enhance his natural abilities, it does enable him to ride Baymax in flight, as well as partial protection from destruction. His helmet is also equipped with a communication device, enabling him contact with the rest of the team members despite their distance. * Computer interface: Integrated into his suit's gloves, Hiro uses a miniature computer to hack, track down and program anything. Appearances Big Hero 6 Big Hero 6: The Series Printed Media Manga The manga series Baymax, delved into Hiro's past, revealing his upbringing and relationship with Tadashi, prior to the events of the film. It is revealed that Hiro was dubbed a genius at a very young age (being able to solve a problem no one could have) and, as a result, he found himself bullied and beaten by a group of envious kids on occasion, though Tadashi would always come to his rescue, yet he'd lie and say that it wasn't on purpose. As he grew older, Hiro became increasingly antisocial, even growing distant from Tadashi. Nevertheless, the elder sibling made attempts to keep the bond between Hiro and himself strong by crafting fun inventions for them to share, such as a miniature airplane for two. With the latter, Hiro's enthusiastic side saw a resurgence, and together, the brothers spent their days side by side as scientific partners and best friends. Hiro and Tadashi Hiro and Tadashi centers around the relationship shared by the Hamada brothers, where they are shown to share secret rules (at least 457 of them) and continuously joined together to concoct various inventions. It's also revealed that Tadashi supplied his younger brother with a journal, to keep track of his latest endeavors, which would tie into Hiro's Journal. This book focused on the inner thoughts of Hiro during the course of the film, including his excitement to join the ranks of San Fransokyo Tech, his devastation over the loss of Tadashi, and more; all told by written journal entries and photographs. Comics Hiro's adventures are also expanded upon in a Dutch magazine print centering around the film and containing several short stories revolving around the young genius and his team. For example, Tech Nightmare takes place during the events of the film, in the midst of Hiro's creation of the Microbots in anticipation of San Fransokyo Tech's annual science fair. Adventurous Imagination takes place after the events of the film, where the team faces a new villain by the name of Dr. Rat. In the story The Winning Robot, Yama returns to extract revenge. Video Games Disney INFINITY Hiro and Baymax appear as playable characters in the second Disney INFINITY''game, donning their superhero outfits. Hiro's main source of power and attacks in the game are his Microbots, which, like in the film, can be used in combat, creating impressive damage to enemies. Aside from that, Hiro also has the ability to ride atop Baymax. Hiro can additionally use booster jumps for super-stealth spying purposes. ''Big Hero 6: Battle in the Bay Taking place after the events of the film, San Fransokyo falls under the attack of a battle bot invasion, at the hands of Yama, who seeks vengeance on Hiro for humiliating him and "usurping" his bot-fighting championship. With this, Hiro and the team band together to defeat the villain. Walt Disney Parks Trivia *Based on the teaser trailers, it is shown that Hiro is good at soccer. *Hiro graduated high school at the age of 12. *Hiro and Tadashi are both half Japanese. *According to Hiro, he lost his parents at the age of 3. *He seems to quote Tadashi sometimes in the film, such as "Unbelievable" and to look at things from a different angle. *Hiro and Baymax's flight through the city is a reference to Iron Man when Tony Stark took his first flight in his first cinematic film. *Hiro and Baymax are the only members of the team to not have nicknames. *Ivona, is the one who knows him personally due to family relationships. *In the original comic book series, it is shown that Hiro showcased high intelligence from a very young age, which caused him to be bullied by others, and needing Tadashi to protect him. This may explain Hiro's antisocial, shy behavior around others along with his cockiness in his own intelligence. **It is also shown from the manga that he is smarter than Tadashi. *The 2013 Rotoscopers video and early information regarding the plot depicted Hiro with a slightly different backstory: He was already attending classes with Tadashi and could not fit in with the other students due to his intelligence (though he doesn't seem to mind). The Rotoscopers video also depicted Hiro as part of a "science club research team" lead by Tadashi (most likely consisting of Honey, Go Go, Wasabi, and Fred) in which each individual would make different things and would eventually lead up to a competition. Like Tony Stark, Hiro felt pressure over using his intelligence for good or just building battle robots in the basement (garage in the final film). **Also, in early stages of the story, Hiro was responsible for the creation of Baymax, as opposed to Tadashi, just like in the comics book. *According to Baymax's first scan, Hiro has a slight allergy to peanuts. *Hiro loves Gummy Bears, and was excited when he asked Baymax to retrieve said item. *Hiro, along with his comic counterpart, shares many physical traits with fellow Disney character Amadeus Cho, both are of Asian descent and bear a slight resemblance to each other along with being child prodigies. *Hiro has a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) controller connected to his computer in his bedroom. **He also has a poster of the deleted villain "Mr. Sparkles" in the same area. *Along with Hiro's gap in his front teeth, he has a slight overbite. In addition, in one scene, Hiro was seen sticking his tongue out to bring a straw up to his mouth before sipping, a habit common among people who sucked their thumbs as children. *Hiro has a habit of running his hand(s) through his hair. Some examples are when he is explaining to the policeman about the microbots, on the staircase telling Aunt Cass that he has a lot of homework to catch up on, or when he re-activated Baymax by the end of the film. *Hiro appears to be a Whovian (Doctor Who fan) because of a Dalek-like action figure on his shelf in his room. *During renovations of the Walt Disney Animation Studios building, beginning in 2014, Hiro was one of the character silhouettes featured on the wall mural. *In much of Hiro's early concept art, he bears a strong resemblance to Arthur Pendragon, from The Sword in the Stone. *Because Tadashi Hamada's name is changed to Teddy Armada in the Korean dub, Hiro Hamada's name is changed to "Hero Armada". **Similarly, Hiro's name was changed to "Hero" in the mainland Mandarin Chinese dub. *Hiro's SFIT ID is #20348509.